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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29284320">The Wisps Sing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmoonpeaches/pseuds/itsmoonpeaches'>itsmoonpeaches</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aang (Avatar)-centric, Adventure, Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Effects of War, F/M, POV Aang (Avatar), Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Spirit World (Avatar), Spirits</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:09:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,595</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29284320</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmoonpeaches/pseuds/itsmoonpeaches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“So,” the mysterious woman started, her back to him, “you have found me at last, Avatar Aang.” Her voice sounded regal, as if she had been a ruler once, and yet it was still kind. She turned to him and he was struck by the brightness of her irises. They glowed just so, like a light was shimmering behind them.</p><p>“You know me?” Aang stuttered out, a little wary.</p><p>Her lips quirked and she replied, “I know all of you.”  </p><p>He did not know what to say except, “Who are you?”</p><p>-</p><p>Or, when the Earth King invites Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph to celebrate over a thousand years of Earth Kingdom Unification, they find out there was more to the invitation. There could not be more to find in the Dai Li's old hideouts, could there?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; Katara (Avatar), Aang &amp; The Gaang (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Wisps Sing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story has been sitting in the back of my mind for months, and it isn't until now that I am finally writing it. I welcome you on this journey with me. It is a friendship fic, a Kataang fic, and a fic that involves a lot of Aang-centric ideas.</p><p>The title is inspired by the song "The Wisp Sings" by Winter Aid.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Without a doubt, Aang was proud of the work that Toph had done on the Southern Air Temple. She had taken some time off from the Metalbending Academy to help him oversee the reconstruction efforts. It would not be long, she said, but she could not let the “amateurs” take over where she claimed she was an expert.</p><p>They were in the Southern Air Temple, stopping over to check in on the refurbishing process which the Fire Nation had spearheaded with funding. Things were running smoothly—to Aang’s immense satisfaction, and in truth it warmed his heart to see people from other nations come together to help with his lost one.</p><p>He knew Toph was one of the best when it came to making art out of earth (and earthbending in general), but he could have done without all the complaining.</p><p>“No, <em>no, </em>you lily livers!” Toph groaned in a hallway of ruined statues. She stomped the ground as she did so, and he could feel the tiles shake just a little. “Put it more to the left! You can’t just <em>decide </em>to put Guru Shoken in a random alcove. Are you <em>blind?” </em>Then, under her breath, “Blinder than me apparently.”</p><p>Needless to say, Aang was getting a headache. He pinched his eyebrows together with his pointer finger and his thumb, praying to whatever entity that would listen for some relief. Three years since the end of the war, and Toph had not changed one bit. In fact, he was sure that she had gotten bossier since she opened a school.</p><p>He leaned back onto the banister, letting his back press into the cool stone so that it might distract him. The crisp winter air was soothing for his throbbing head, and he liked that it was already starting to make him feel better.</p><p>He jerked alert when something cold and powdery hit him on the shoulder. When he looked down, he saw the remnants of a snowball sliding down his yellow woolen sleeve. He opened his mouth, about to call out to whoever had decided it was a good idea to disturb the Avatar, when he heard the familiar melodic laughter of Katara.</p><p>She was standing just a foot away from him clad in her blue traditional Water Tribe parka. Her hands were covered in deep purple mittens, and she held them up to her face to hide her giggling.</p><p>“You looked too uncomfortable there, Aang,” she grinned, walking toward him and wiping her mittens on her sides.</p><p>He blinked. “So, you wanted to make me more uncomfortable?” he asked incredulously. His hands settled upon her waist when she was near enough.</p><p>Katara tilted her head, her expression softening. “You looked like you needed it,” she added.</p><p>Aang sighed, feeling himself relax in a way that only she could make him. He observed her for a short moment, seeing how the years after the war only seemed to make her more beautiful. Sure, he had grown taller than her by a few inches. Her nose was at his chin was now, but Katara did not seem to mind the change nor the switch in height difference.</p><p>She had begun to lose more of the roundness in her cheeks. Her chestnut hair was consistently half-down, but she kept the loops of hair that she wore on the sides of her face. Her eyes were a darker blue, and her shoulders more confident. Hope had made her powerful, but peace made her into someone he held in his heart.</p><p> Aang smiled at her and leaned in to peck her cheek. When he pulled away, he said with a shrug, “You’re right, as always.”</p><p>Katara smirked. “Of course, I am,” she replied. She moved to stand next to him and then they were both resting against the stone rails. “So,” she started, “What’s on your mind? Toph can’t be <em>that </em>bad.”</p><p>As soon as she said that Aang heard Toph reprimand someone again. He grimaced when there was n additional scream of terror.</p><p>Katara winced. “Okay…maybe she can get a little…aggressive,” she conceded.</p><p>Aang chuckled and he let out a slow breath. “I don’t know,” he began. “I’m happy that we’re here and that Zuko has helped us get this far in refurbishing the air temples, but I guess I’m just…worried about getting it right. Seeing everything get put back to what it’s supposed to be is making me realize that I have a duty to my people to preserve our culture, our traditions…” He shook his head. “I think I always knew, but—”</p><p>Katara’s gentle hand met his cheek and she turned his face to hers, making his words stop. “You’re already doing great,” she said with confidence in her tone. “It’s not your job to make things perfect, just to do the best you can.”</p><p>“But I’m the Avatar—”</p><p>“You’re also Aang,” she cut him off again. “If there is anyone that your people could trust to do them right, it’s you. Anyway, you don’t have to do it alone. You have me.”</p><p> It was not easy even after the many times Katara had told him that the world believed in him, that <em>she </em>believed in him, to trust in that same faith himself. Yet he had to admit that it did help, at least for that moment.</p><p>“It’s getting late,” Katara spoke after a moment. The wind caught her words and made them sound like an echo. “We need to get ready for dinner, and then go to sleep…and I <em>mean </em>go to sleep,” she said with a frown. “If I find out that you were off wandering the temple at night, I’ll make sure that you and Sokka share a room for the rest of your lives.”</p><p>He gasped, scandalized. “Katara!” he whined.</p><p>“No complaining, Aang!” she reprimanded him, getting into his face and jabbing a finger to his chest. “You need rest, and you haven’t been getting much of it. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Besides, we need to get up early tomorrow if we’re going to make it to Ba Sing Se in time for the Earth Kingdom Unification Ball.”</p><p>Aang groaned when he remembered the real reason why they stopped over at the Southern Air Temple. It was a pit stop that he, Katara, Sokka, and Toph had made after they left the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka had visited their home and family for a few weeks, and Toph had arrived to help with the construction of a factory under the Bei Fong’s company name. Aang had to admit that Toph might have gotten her excessive crankiness from having to wear shoes for an extended period. (“I can’t see anything through these things, Twinkle Toes! How am I supposed to tell you where I last saw Katara?!”) He had not thought of that until much later. In fact, it was understandable. He just did not want to say it out loud.</p><p>Word spread fast that he was in the Southern Water Tribe, and he had received a message from Earth King Kuei himself that his and his friends’ presence was requested at the commemorative ball.</p><p>“It’s been over a thousand years since the Earth Kingdom was unified,” groaned Aang. “I can’t believe we have to go to a party for it.”</p><p>“It’s a party that hasn’t been hosted in a little over a hundred years,” said Katara with a smile. She held his hand and squeezed it. “It’ll look good if the Avatar and his friends go. It’s another sign of peace. The Earth King isn’t asking you for too much, just to show up. I think it could be fun.”</p><p>The corner of Aang’s mouth quirked up into a smile. “Okay,” he said with a nod, squeezing her hand back, “then you’ll be my first dance at the ball?”</p><p>Katara lightly slapped his shoulder. “Why? Is there anyone else you’re planning on dancing with?” she laughed.</p><p>The two of them separated only when Toph yelled at them for being too noisy with their flirting. Aang could feel himself blush from his neck to the start of his arrow tattoo on his forehead. Katara sputtered next to him, just as red.</p><p>The workers around them shuffled away, moaning about aching bones just as Toph shoved them aside and praised a grand total of one individual for their hard work.</p><p>Sokka met with the three of them at the main courtyard near Monk Gyatso’s statue. Aang had refurbished it himself, and it looked brand-new. It was wooden and did not require Toph’s help or earthbending, but he still remembered what the monks had taught him about wood carving. It had taken him mere hours one day to piece the cracks back together. It was lucky that the Fire Nation had not touched it in their initial raids, but time had worn the figure out.</p><p>“C’mon slowpokes!” shouted Sokka, waving his arms. “We have Fire Nation roasted turtle ducks for dinner, curtesy of the chef!”</p><p>Toph nudged Katara, making Aang laugh behind them. “By <em>the chef,</em> he means that really annoying guy that agrees with whatever Sokka says about construction work.”</p><p>Aang tried to hide his smile, but to no avail. She was right, after all. Sokka had been preoccupied with developing an easier way for non-earthbenders to move rocks with some crane-like contraption for the past few days. The man who normally cooked most of their meals just so happened to be rather obsessed with Sokka and his ideas, and it was getting to Sokka’s head.</p><p>“Is there a vegetarian option?” Aang called, syncing his steps with the others as they made their way down the hall nearby.</p><p>Sokka scoffed. “Vegetarian? I still don’t understand how you can live without meat, Aang.”</p><p>Aang slumped forward. “So, I guess I’m eating rice again,” he grumbled.</p><p>Katara brightened next to him. “Actually, I roasted some water chestnuts for you so you can have them too. I tasted them and they’re pretty good!”</p><p>Sokka groaned. “Wait why does he get to have your cooking but not me? Katara, I’m your big brother!”</p><p>Aang sniggered as the siblings bickered all the way to the dining area, and Toph let out a heavy sigh in resignation. He could not help but feel sorry for her sensitive ears. It was a long walk to supper, but at least it was enjoyable when they did sit down.</p><p>Katara was right. The salted water chestnuts made for a savory, nutty side dish with his bowl of rice. He supposed it was difficult to expect too many airbender friendly dishes from Fire Nation workers when even their hippo cows ate meat.</p><p>The food gave him a warm, pleasant feeling in his belly. One that he did not know he needed. It made his eyes droop, and sleepiness settle in. Soon after, he was ready for bed. Sokka followed him out, saying that he was going to catch some shut eye as well. He was never one to turn down a few hours of slumber.</p><p>They both washed up, splashing fresh water on their faces in the privy. Aang said, “Goodnight,” just as Sokka started snoring.</p><p>When Aang closed his eyes, he felt himself loosen. Images danced on the backs of his eyelids.  He saw himself standing in a field next to water. Sparks of fire lifted from the earth, the grass, the dandelions that swayed. When he opened them again, the picture disappeared.</p><p>Aang was already having a difficult time sleeping with Sokka’s loud snoring next to him in the other bed, and his imagination did not help. He shifted into another spot, hoping for some warmth. The hearth did not seem to help much when it was winter. He sent another soft blast of air across his body, hoping his mastery of the temperature around him with airbending would help.</p><p>It did not. As a matter of fact, it made him frustrated. The lethargy he had experienced earlier had gone.</p><p>He could not find a comfortable position on his mattress. He had been moving around his sheets and tossing from one spot to another for an hour while Sokka slept almost as soon as his head hit the pallet. Truly, Aang wished not for the first time that he had the same ability to pass out with minimal obstructions.</p><p>It did not help that his thoughts kept wandering and his whole body felt so awake<em>. </em>It was like there was something tingling under his skin, pulsing, keeping him aware beyond his senses. He could see every detail in the grains of the floorboards, hear every brush of the breeze as it pounded against the windowpane. The smell of sandalwood and incense was strong, as well as the musky scent of a century of decay. There was a shivering in his ears, a beat of invisible wings. Maybe, if he concentrated hard enough, he could imagine the shadow of a butterfly as it made its way across the room.</p><p>He moved yet again, craning his neck when he spotted something bright in the corner of his eye. A feeling, a strange one, came to fruition at the center of his chest. A wisp of an idea, a suggestion at the tip of his tongue that he did not understand. He saw flickers of memory just outside his line of sight: laughing as he tried to balance on the back of a glider with orange wings, the taste of jasmine tea on a cold winter’s day, sitting across an old friend with a white lotus tile in the palm of his hand as he played a daring round of Pai Sho.</p><p>Aang shook his head, rubbing at his eyes. The threads of memories that were not his fluttered away. He blinked and then he saw it. A curious ball of flame hovered in the center of the door frame of the room he and Sokka shared, mere inches above the ground. It was the size of a small basket of fruit, the kind he would use to carry the lychees that Momo adored so much. Though, his lemur would probably wish for a bigger one.</p><p>The flames lacked the harshness of a blast of fire but were a soft yellow with tinges of white. Just looking at it made him feel calm somehow. But it was strange. A hollow glow.</p><p>Aang’s bare feet hit the floor without a second thought. He found himself moving toward the ball of flame, almost as if he were in a trance. There was a pull, a tug, a moment of beckoning. The call moved, and he moved with it.</p><p>He walked silently through the twisting halls of the temple, careful to shut the door behind him. His feet barely touched the ground. Whispers echoed in his ears. They were calls, voices of the night. The ball began to rush and dart, and so he did the same.</p><p>He turned a corner, and another. This was a maze he should have known, yet there was nothing he could do to decipher it. A shadow, and a light. The ball of flame sputtered and sang something like a long-lost lullaby from his childhood. He did not recognize the words. </p><p>Then, the flames and the soft yellow glow were gone. Vanished. Like it was never there.</p><p>Aang gasped, halting by a rounded window that overlooked a balcony somewhere in a spire on the other side of the temple. Far away from where he had been before. There was a shape that formed where the flame should have been, light blue like the ring around a full moon.</p><p>His lips parted when he saw the figure. The robes, the beads, the back of a bald head, a line of a blue tattoo from the forehead to his neck. He knew who it was.</p><p>“Gyatso?” Aang murmured into the night. He pushed himself forward through the window, grateful that there was no glass. He made it through without any difficulty and alighted on the terrace below. Air billowed past him, through his loose trousers and long-sleeved winter robe. He could not feel the cold on his skin.</p><p>Gyatso did not move. Aang stepped forward, and then with a moment’s hesitation, reached out to his shoulder.</p><p>He was met with a breath of nothing. He stumbled forward, an aimlessness in the pit of his stomach. For a second he shut his eyes, letting the emptiness of the temple resound inside him like the reverberation of a wailing gong. He had to remind himself that there was no one there as he had been since the Hundred Year War ended.</p><p>He opened his eyes, blinking away his disappointment. However, he was surprised when another figure had replaced Gyatso.</p><p>There was a woman standing on the balcony now. Her skin was pale, unbelievably so. As if she were made from porcelain and shone silver from within. Her hair was pure white and reached the backs of her knees. She had an elegant topknot that crowned the top of her head, held together with a long ivory hairpiece embedded with diamond-shaped blue jade pattered across it. Sheer ribbons were strung through on either end and flowed like rivers on both sides of her face. Her clothes were silk waves that matched the rest of her, sapped of color except for displays of turquoise swirls throughout.</p><p>“So,” the mysterious woman started, her back to him, “you have found me at last, Avatar Aang.” Her voice sounded regal, as if she had been a ruler once, and yet it was still kind. She turned to him and he was struck by the brightness of her irises. They glowed just so, like a light was shimmering behind them.</p><p>“You know me?” Aang stuttered out, a little wary.</p><p>Her lips quirked and she replied, “I know all of you.” </p><p>He did not know what to say except, “Who are you?”</p><p>She looked at him with a careful gaze, pausing to investigate his face. It felt like she was studying him.</p><p>“Raava,” said the woman after a long moment. The name rang something within him, a familiarity he was not aware he had attached to it. Like something long forgotten.</p><p>“You are a gentle spirit,” she continued. “I have not spoken to one like you in an exceptionally long time. Since perhaps the beginning.”</p><p>“You’re a spirit,” he said as if on instinct. He stepped closer to her, as if drawn in.</p><p>Raava laughed softly into her hand, her serious façade breaking if just for a moment. She nodded as an answer. “You’re as observant as ever, my old friend.”</p><p>Aang was not sure what to make of her, this spirit. She should have been a foreign entity, yet he could not shake the feeling that he knew her even better than he knew himself.</p><p>“I feel like I know you,” he said instead of asking anything else.</p><p>She smiled at him, a gentle smile. “I come in many different forms as many spirits do,” she spoke, voice carrying in the whistling winds around the Patola Mountains that surrounded the temple. “I admit that you are not familiar with this one, but I chose it because it would be the most comfortable to you. I do not yet think you are ready to remember me the way you are now. Perhaps in the future you will be.”</p><p>When Aang did not speak, she came nearer to him. So close, that she brushed his hand. He did not flinch away. It felt right somehow. Like they were two parts of the same whole, like family that had reconnected after years of being apart.</p><p>“I came to you because you need to remember this at least. Because I am the only one who can teach it to you,” she stated. Her gaze never left his. “‘The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light.’" She stopped to stare at him. Her eyes were unbelievably bright blue, like there was a light that shone behind them. “You remember that this is what the ancient one taught you.”</p><p>Aang let out a breath he did not know he was holding. He pictured the gigantic lion turtle on the day Sozin’s Comet arrived as it glided through the ocean waters, the day he ended the war and avenged his people.</p><p>“You are the Avatar,” Raava said, letting go of his hand. “You are a human and you are a spirit. You can do much more than bend the elements. You bend energy. You are light in the dark. I wonder…if all darkness can be purified, don’t you?”</p><p>“I don’t…understand.” Aang remarked, scrunching his eyebrows together.</p><p>“Darkness does not have to be evil,” Raava explained, “It is closer to a lack of hope.” She turned her head to the side. There was a flash of fire, of light, and she looked back to him. “Help them,” she said. “I will guide you.”</p><p>“Help who?”</p><p>In blinding white, Raava vanished from the balcony in an instant, and Aang stood alone with nothing but the resounding of a whisper. Not for the first time, he wondered what part of himself he was missing.</p><p>-</p><p>Flying to Ba Sing Se went smoother than Aang thought it would. Appa, who normally did not quite enjoy flights at the crack of dawn, was much more chipper than expected. It could have been the fact that he had been well groomed the day before, but he was sure that the only thing that would have stirred his oldest friend to get up early was the promise of a bushel of fresh moon peaches or a cart full of hay.</p><p>Momo spent his time on the back of Appa curled into a ball on Sokka’s lap because Sokka had the tree nuts in his pocket and he kept trying to steal some. Toph hated it as usual but resigned herself to days of travel. At least, she said, that it was back to the good old days.</p><p>“It’s a plus that we aren’t running for our lives,” she added, picking her nose and tilting her head back on the saddle. “That would stink.”</p><p>Katara spent most of her time either next to Aang or fussing over the food supply because both her brother and Momo seemed to enjoy diminishing it more than she thought was acceptable.</p><p>“Sokka, aren’t you done with your growth spurt yet?” she growled. “I can’t believe your appetite.”</p><p>“A man needs his muscles, little sister,” Sokka replied with a smug look on his face. Aang did not get a chance to witness Katara freeze Sokka’s hand to his satchel because he was busy steering Appa away from a stray raincloud.</p><p>After almost two weeks of nonstop travel and sibling rivalry, Aang was glad to see Ba Sing Se’s city walls rise upon the horizon line. He was sure his friends were happy as well if the cheering was any indication. No matter how much he loved to be a nomad, sometimes a rush to get to a destination was too much. He had the sores on his rear end to prove it.</p><p>It was chilly here too, but not as pronounced as in the Southern Air Temple. Flurries drifted down to the ground, but only a meager amount stuck. Most of it seemed to melt within minutes of touching the earth. Late afternoon was starting to set in, and the sun had begun its decent into the west.</p><p>It was refreshing that when they landed, they had Appa unlike the first time they had visited Ba Sing Se. Even more refreshing when Joo Dee did not greet them with her unnerving smile and stilted, overly formal way of speaking. Instead, they were greeted by a single man who bowed low as they dismounted from Appa in front of their designated home in the Upper Ring. It was the same one they had stayed in previously, and just as unnecessarily luxurious.</p><p>While Aang would have preferred to stay with Iroh near the Jasmine Dragon tea shop, he did not want to impose when there were so many guests and a bison to take care of. He was sure that Iroh would protest, but Aang thought that he deserved some time away from politics after so long embroiled in them. He was glad to learn that the old man was invited to the ball.</p><p>“General How,” greeted Aang with an answering bow. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”</p><p>The general was the same upright, dutiful man that Aang remembered him to be. His hair was a dark brown, pulled back into a neat topknot with an intricate hairpiece with the symbol for the Earth Kingdom engraved in gold. His beard reached inches below his chin and was trimmed meticulously. He had piercing olive eyes, and a perpetual serious expression. Even in peacetime, he wore his armor. The chest piece and pauldrons were immaculate.</p><p>“Welcome to Ba Sing Se, Avatar Aang, Master Katara, Master Toph, Master Sokka,” he said. “I’m here to greet you on behalf of the Earth King.”</p><p>Aang did not fail to notice that Sokka preened a little at being called a master. Toph elbowed him in the side and Sokka doubled over with a grunt.</p><p>“Thank you,” Aang replied.</p><p>General How studied them for a moment before speaking again. “If you would follow me,” he remarked, “there is an urgent matter we must discuss before the ball tonight.”</p><p>Alarmed, Aang glanced over at the others. They all nodded at him. He gestured for Appa to find a place to rest somewhere in the gardens. Momo followed with a chittering sound, scampering into the matted grass with him.</p><p>Aang and the others followed General How without complaint. The air was thick with trepidation. The palace guards did not bother to say anything to them when they passed, but merely lowered their heads in quick succession. The grand entrance to the Earth King’s home stood before them, impending and bright with gold leaf and emerald hues.</p><p>The sloping golden tiled roofs were edged with precious carvings and sweeping designs. The Earth Kingdom symbol of the circle with a square in the center was carved above doors. Everything was exquisite and overall, too opulent for Aang’s tastes. Somehow, the lack of Fire Nation reds that had once been draped on the walls of the palace made the place seem even more ostentatious.</p><p>They were led not into the throne room as Aang had thought they would be brought into, but to one of the Council of Five’s offshoot chambers. The ominous green glow that covered the room highlighted the lacquered furniture and the similarly colored gleaming stones in the fireplace.</p><p>Standing at the head of a rather long table was Earth King Kuei himself, clad in his usual royal attire and robes. His plait lay tidy on his shoulder, and his crown atop his head in the green and gold of his kingdom. Beside him stood a Dai Li agent with a scar scratched on his cheek. He wore all dark greens and a conical hat.</p><p>The king raised his head as soon as they entered behind the general. The doors slid shut, and General How bowed. “Your Majesty, Captain Liang, I have brought the Avatar and his friends,” he informed them. He gestured toward them and moved to the opposite end of the table.</p><p>Aang followed, the others making their way to the empty spots and filling them in. He inclined his head toward Kuei, frowning. “General How said there was something urgent?” he asked. “Is there something going on with the ball?”</p><p>Kuei blinked at him from behind his small, round glasses that sat atop his nose. “Ah yes,” he replied with a nod, “the ball. No, there isn’t anything particularly wrong with that.”</p><p>They stared at each other for a while. An awkward silence stretched between them. The king bit his bottom lip and shifted from foot to foot.</p><p>“Then…” Aang trailed off, hoping for clarification.</p><p>Kuei gulped before responding. “You see, the ball might have been the initial reason why I invited you all here, but in truth…it’s because I have a problem that I need your help with.”</p><p>Sokka huffed. “Well, why didn’t you tell us before?”</p><p>Kuei glanced away, looking nervous. “I was afraid word would get out. People are still questioning my authority, you know…since I have been Long Feng’s puppet for most of my rule. I wanted your help done in secret.” He sighed, suddenly looking tired. “My people are disappearing,” he finished.</p><p>Aang stood up straighter then. He took a quick look around the table, seeing the surprised expressions on his friends’ faces. He felt the same.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Aang asked, digging his fingers into the wood of the tabletop.</p><p>“It started just a few weeks ago, about when we seriously started to reform the Dai Li,” spoke Kuei. “Captain Liang officially became their leader after a few years of being the unofficial one. I commanded them to start clearing out the old hideouts, picking out the people who might not be loyal to me or the Earth Kingdom. It went well at first. Then, a palace maid went missing one night. Then a few nights later, one of the royal guards. It kept happening, and always at random.</p><p>“My people vanish into the night. No one knows what happens to them, and even with all the investigations my men have done, we cannot find who is taking them or why. There is no pattern.”</p><p>Aang narrowed his eyes. He looked into the fireplace, into the simmering green flames that had begun to rise.</p><p>“We do have a lead, though,” said General How somewhere across him. He nodded to someone behind him.</p><p>There was shuffling, and a curtain was pushed back. Into the chamber room, a familiar face appeared. Her black hair was just as long and straight. Her face just as tanned and her posture just as proper.</p><p>“If I could be of help, Avatar Aang,” said Joo Dee with a slight bow. Her eyebrows were crinkled with worry. “All I have is an unusual story.”</p><p>Aang turned his attention to her, nodding. “Anything helps,” he remarked.</p><p>Joo Dee grimaced. “I saw something the other night, and it compelled me to follow,” she spoke with a tremor. “Something that looked like a lantern, but I do not know who was carrying it. It was near the ancient parts of the city, where the Dai Li sometimes kept their prisoners. If it weren’t for the curfew gong well…I don’t know where I would have gone.”</p><p>He felt Katara’s eyes on him, and when he looked up, he knew that they were thinking the same thing.</p><p>-</p><p>Aang brushed his hands on his formal tunic, trying to wipe off the stray pieces of flint that might have attached to it. The buttons were a nuisance, but at least the colors were a familiar yellow and orange. Katara fixed his high collar and straightened the auburn folds that created a sash across his torso.</p><p>“I like this on you,” she said with a smile.</p><p>He laughed softly. “Maybe I should wear it more often,” he answered. He stepped back to appraise her. “You look beautiful.”</p><p>Katara had chosen to wear a dress more in line with traditional Water Tribe fashion. It had a long blue skirt trimmed with white fur and a matching belt in the middle. Her sleeves were long and wide at the end, reminiscent of a Northern Water Tribe parka. Simple wavy patterns trailed down the center, and around her neck she wore her mother’s necklace. The ocean carving there was dainty against her skin.</p><p>Her hair was half-up in its usual style, but she had pinned a pretty jasmine flower to her bun that produced a sweet, scented cloud around her. She had light blush on, just enough to bring her eyes out.</p><p>“Thanks,” Katara beamed. She held out her hand. “Should we go?”</p><p>They held hands. Sokka and Toph were behind them and Aang could hear Sokka pretending to gag at their supposed “lovey-doveyness”. He was tempted to tease Sokka more with it, but he did not want to ruin the moment.</p><p>“I can’t believe we were invited here to do more work,” complained Sokka as he caught up with them in his own formal wear. “I thought this was supposed to be a shindig with minimal Team Avatar things to do.”</p><p>Toph sauntered up to them. Her hair was done in an intricate braid that a stylist made for her. She did not particularly enjoy being forced into a dress, but after Katara told her she was allowed to be barefoot, she conceded. “I just came here to hang out with you idiots,” she said. She shoved a pinky up her nose. “Frankly, I’m surprised we got this far with no requests from some important official. I was kind of expecting it. Anyway, could be fun.”</p><p>“You call searching for missing people<em> fun?” </em>Sokka asked, taken aback.</p><p>“Exactly,” Toph grinned. She flicked her pinky in Sokka’s direction. “Get with the times.”</p><p>Aang let the two of them talk out their grievances all the way to the gate where they were met with an entourage of people including the Earth King himself. In the waiting crowd, he spotted Iroh clad in Earth Kingdom colors. His gray hair was tied up into a topknot.</p><p>When they made it inside where there was a grand dance floor and lines of buffet tables with busboys wandering about, he was reminded just what kind of a city Ba Sing Se was.</p><p>Iroh joined them at the front, grinning widely with an excitable laugh that was infectious. Aang was sure that Iroh wished Zuko was there, but there was only so much that could be done since his nephew was the Fire Lord. Kuei had apparently extended the invitation, but it turned out that making the Earth Kingdom Unification Ball an international event was not in the cards when it was a rather small celebration in comparison to more important ones.</p><p>The next best thing was to invite important people from the Avatar’s circle that were not world leaders themselves, but Aang realized that his friends might as well have been. It was an ancient tradition that the companions of the Avatar were akin to some of the most influential individuals on the planet.</p><p>Aang could not help but observe the people that were invited. Did anyone here know someone that was stolen? Were they hoping against hope that he would be able to help them?</p><p>At the front of the hall, the king and some of his men stood at the front. The crowd hushed, and Kuei spoke.</p><p>“We are here to celebrate when the Hao Dynasty began and brought our people together,” he said, voice carrying. “Now, during the Hou-Ting Dynasty, the Earth Kingdom remains united. Though we have had a century that tested our resilience, in the end we are still here as one people.”</p><p>There was clapping, applause, some of which Aang joined in on. He tried to let the feeling of elation overtake him. The ball began. Stringed guzhengs played, and the music warbled through the tall pillars like a singing choir of their own.</p><p>Iroh led them to the tea table where he proudly offered them some of his best concoctions. “This one has such a lovely floral aroma,” he said with a puff of his chest. “You really must try it. I insist!”</p><p>Aang knocked back a cup, and then sipped another. He tried the fried bean curd puffs, picked his way through a plateful of steamed eggs seasoned with sesame, and delighted in slices of dragon fruit.</p><p>“This is really great, Iroh!” he exclaimed, and the old man was pleased.   </p><p>Afterward, it was Katara that had dragged him onto the dancefloor when a bouncy tune had begun. A few bells and gongs rang throughout, and people jumped at the chance to hop into step. He did not realize that his shoulders were tense until her hands were on them.</p><p>“Relax,” Katara said, bringing him to the border of the floor. “We’re here tonight to have some fun. Tomorrow, we can worry about everything else. Besides, if the king was going to use the ball as a cover for inviting us anyway, we might as well enjoy it.”</p><p>Aang chuckled, eyes crinkling. “You’re right,” he agreed.</p><p>They spun and laughed together. They met eyes, they brushed sides. Another spin, and colors started to whirl into different shapes and sizes. The thrill of the notes that played sent shivers down his spine, into his skin, his core. The firelight twinkled, flickered, changed from yellow to white to green to something else entirely.</p><p>He saw Iroh, guffawing at something a younger man had said to him. His golden eyes flashed as if in some unnamed emotion. A ball of flame came and dissipated. But no, it was Aang’s imagination. It had to be.</p><p>“Do you ever wonder what it was all for?” someone must have said. He could not pinpoint who it was. “The war.”</p><p>The music slowed down. His head pounded. Katara brought him to sit down. She came back moments later with a cup in her hand. She offered it up to him, a concerned look on her face. He took it with a sigh.</p><p>Moments later, Sokka and Toph sat next to them.</p><p>“Man, the food here is great,” marveled Sokka. He stretched his limbs out. “It’s a good thing this is almost over though. I’m exhausted.” He raised his eyebrows at Aang and Katara. “You two behave now. I’ll see you in the morning.”</p><p>Aang lifted a hand. “See you later, Sokka,” he said.</p><p>Toph groaned when someone asked her to dance, but he and Katara only pushed for her to try it out. At least Iroh had asked for her hand later. Though the two of them stumbled through it, Toph seemed to actually enjoy it. Their dance was an amiable end to the night. Iroh requested to meet with them the next day, or at least sometime while they were visiting.</p><p>Aang massaged his skull when the headache went down. He was grateful that the king had told them that they could rest that evening. It really had been a long journey.</p><p>When they made it back to their guest home, Katara kissed him on the cheek, and the three of them went to turn in. The candles were already snuffed out. He was careful not to trip over Sokka’s things.</p><p>Aang laid down on his bed and let the quiet seep into his ears. It was calming. At least Sokka was not snoring so loud this time, he thought.</p><p>He dreamed of flying arrows and caverns snaking through the earth. He chased after one and then another. When his fingertips almost caught a swaying shadow, he thought he saw the face of a white-haired girl. Another boy was running after her, calling her name. “Yue!” yelled the other boy, but he was met with nothing.</p><p>Aang shot up in his bed, his heart pounding. The sun was already high in the sky when he realized it.</p><p>Sokka was gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a story that involves some Filipino folktale references, some of which have already been referenced. Shout out if you can figure out what!<br/>As always, if you enjoyed this, please feel free to leave a comment and/or kudos down below!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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